So I have this 2005 Roubaix Pro carbon fiber frame. It has some flaking on some parts of the frame. I have put a clearcoat on carbon fiber before with excellent results. However, this frame has a kind of shaded coating and the exposed areas shown are now lighter in color. So if I lightly sand and clearcoat these spots will they still be discolored?

I would guess that some tint shift will happen. Have you tried to spread some liquid like spit on the spots to see what changes? Andy

Try it,

you'll be no worse off...

I'm curious to see your results. Make sure you post your finished frame and bike.

As I understand it, some of the yellowing of plastic is superficial, so you may be able to restore some of the original color of the frame by sanding the whole thing, at least a little.

Be careful if the logos have superficial paint too, making non-destructive restoration more difficult.

If you can, I'd probably clear-coat the whole frame, so you'll have a uniform finish in the end.

Thank you. I tried the spit test Andy and the color did not change. It's true that I could just lightly sand that area and maybe blend the color a bit or see if that restores the original shade. Then spot paint it with clear coat. It's a matte finish so I would have to match that. If bad goes to worse I could just do the whole bike as suggested.

So here is the finished product. I had to sand the entire area to blend the color and then painted it with a satin finish clear coat. I used Rustoleum brand and they also make a matte finish as well. I think it looks great. There are a couple more areas I am going to pursue next.

Looks good to me. Was this Rustoleum in a spray or brushed-on?

It was the rattle can.